Fresh off his first congressional trip to Israel, Rep. John McGuire (R-VA) said that the future of his party remains pro-Israel, despite a vocal fringe of House Republicans opposing U.S. support for Israel amid its war against Hamas.

“I don’t know where they are with their thoughts and ideas,” McGuire, a freshman lawmaker representing Virginia’s 5th Congressional District, told Jewish Insider on Thursday, referring to attempts to block all U.S. funding to Israel by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY). 

“I do understand that [the U.S. is] $37 trillion in debt, but as a Christian, I certainly support Israel and the Jewish people, and as an ally we would not have been able to successfully do that mission against Iran without the help of Israel,” McGuire said, referring to the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June, calling Greene and Massie “outliers” in the GOP. 

McGuire was elected to Congress in 2024 after challenging a Republican congressman, Bob Good, who voted against military assistance to Israel. McGuire’s campaign last year was backed by AIPAC’s super PAC and the Republican Jewish Coalition.

McGuire visited Israel earlier this month with the AIPAC-affiliated American Israel Education Foundation, alongside 44 other freshmen House Republicans, a trip that he described as “heartbreaking, inspirational and enlightening.” 

The group met with leaders including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee. McGuire said that he had not heard in meetings with leaders a plan for bringing the war to an end, but said that in a sideline conversation, Netanyahu appeared receptive to his advice to “get the job done,” and remain in Gaza until Hamas is defeated.  

A former U.S. Navy SEAL, McGuire said he was particularly inspired while learning about Israel’s mandatory army service. “The U.S. should have a similar program,” he said, describing a “connection” he felt with Netanyahu over their shared military service. “He’s a special-ops guy, I’m a special-ops guy. One thing you learn in the military is there’s a bully on every corner and if you don’t stand up to them it just gets worse. We want to get the hostages home, but if we don’t finish the job, you’re going to have more hostages.” 

“The resilience that Israeli people have, despite being surrounded by folks that want to destroy them, they still are hopeful for the future,” McGuire continued. “They’re very patriotic to their country. When you drive around Israel, you see Israeli flags on every car. I’d like to see American flags on every car.” 

The trip also included visits to several kibbutzim infiltrated by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, and meetings with family members of victims of the attacks, including a musical performance by Kibbutz Be’eri survivor and songwriter Daniel Weiss, whose parents were murdered by the terrorist organization. 

It was the congressman’s second time in the Jewish state, following a 2019 visit with his church. 

McGuire, a member of the cybersecurity subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee, lauded Israel as a world leader in cybersecurity innovations and said the U.S.-Israel technology partnership is “strong.” 

“Watching the mission to take out Iranian nuclear capabilities, American and Israeli soldiers were in the same command/control rooms working together to make sure that the mission was a success,” he said, referring to the June 22 strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities.  

Back stateside, McGuire said he is not satisfied with the steps being taken by leadership at the University of Virginia, located in his district , to address anti-Israel demonstrations and antisemitism on campus. He has not been in touch with the UVA administration yet regarding antisemitism, but said he is “working towards that.”